10 Brain Workout Games and Activities For Children

3 to 7 years

Created by Sugandha Tiwari
Updated on Mar 27, 2018

Important life skills like problem solving do not always develop by themselves, they need to be taught. For this, you need activities that encourage understanding. In the long run your child should be able to break down information in parts, put the learnt content together and ask meaningful questions on the same.

Unfortunately, our children spend more than half of their time in school rote learning and reproducing notes, sometimes with zero understanding and application. Academic learning often fails to provide enough food to develop brain different parts of the brain. Games like the abacus definitely make children confident and sharper to some extent, but not necessarily intelligent and observant enough to solve a wide range of real life problems and tricky situations. Read on to find out how you can help your child brain develop these important skills.

10 Games That Can Give Your Child A Brain Workout

These games and activities can help your child develop their problem solving skills, while having fun together..

Guess what:

Design verbal games to help them process information. Take any ordinary, everyday object and think up some clues to help your child guess what it is. For e.g., “it’s a piece of paper, has four corners, is tied to a string and flies like a bird in the air” – Kite

Odd one out:

Help develop your child’s analytical skills through this is simple game

You present a set of objects, pictures or words and your child has to identify what does not belong in the presented category, what stands out as odd, or which object has nothing in common with the others, for e.g. Dining table, sofa, refrigerator, and cupboard

Ask reasons for his/her answer to help encourage logical deduction

Word chain:

This simple word association game helps exercise your child’s brain and develop their vocabulary. Give him/her a category of objects for e.g. Desserts’, ‘summer’, ‘space’ - and ask him/her to think of as many words as possible in this category

Listen for the Repeated word:

Good listening skills are essential for proper communication and for effectively processing information

Board games and puzzles:

Board games are a fun family activity and help develop your child’s problem solving skills, while working in a team. For e.g. Battleship, Monopoly, or jigsaw puzzles

Discuss social stories:

Help your child develop their emotional intelligence and empathy by discussing social issues

You could pick a story from the news, or even create a fictional situation

Discuss the characters’ emotions and feelings and how they handle and resolve situations

Encourage your child to share his/her thoughts, feelings and opinions

Project work:

Working on small projects with your child can help develop their planning abilities and problem solving skills

From the starting idea to the finished product - write the process in simple steps on flash cards using simple words and sentences, along with pictures

Make a separate list of all the things that would be required. If those things are unavailable, go to the market together and buy them

Encourage questions:

Create opportunities to ask questions like “What do we do next, what else do we need to finish the task, what are the different ways we can use an object, etc. For e.g., you are preparing food in kitchen, involve him/her with you and seek their assistance once in a while

Think of solutions:

Create situations in the form of a story and let your child think of a possible solution. Think of random situations related to your immediate environment and ask him/her to think of possible solutions, for e.g.,” Oh! The puppy is not eating food today, what do we now? What else can we make for him? Is he okay and feeling good?”

End the story your way:

Let them think of a suitable ending for their favorite story. You will be surprised to hear some interesting versions. You may at times a different version of the same story

Points to Keep in Mind During Brain Activities:

Always remember the intention of playing such games is not to make your child smarter by acquiring more information, but to exercise their thinking and reasoning skills. The complexity of each game can be increased as per your child’s interest and performance level..

Did you find Sugandha’s activities to help develop problem solving skills useful? How do you teach your child basic life skills? Do share your experiences and learnings with us in the comments section below. We love hearing from you!

Hi
I m mother of 3 year boy
he was just started school going he cry a lot even he is very active in house playing with his elder sister but in school he is not participate in any activity....
I m very tense.